Rookie Ana “Bia” Beatriz’s car being pushed down
the pitlane following the 2011 race. (The Tomaso Collection)
And who will fill Katherine Legge’s racing boots in
the future…
First off, let me say I’m happy that Katherine
Legge’s back in the Indianapolis 500 field this year…
Fifty years ago, Janet Guthrie was all the rage
at Mother Speedway. Attempting to become the first female to crack the
Indianapolis 500’s glass ceiling, which history denotes, didn’t occur.
Guthrie encountered much resistance in the form
of sexism from Her male counterparts during the Month of May. Along with Her
luggage being lost upon arrival. Which included
Her firesuit and helmet, albeit perhaps just coincidence?
Practice foresaw a difficult road for Guthrie.
As teammate dick Simon suffered an oil leak when shaking down Her racecar. The
following day Simon burned a piston and suffered a turbocharger fire!
Guthrie finally got on-track on the third day
of practice, but also suffered a burned piston after only seven laps. The next
day She completed phase one of Her rookie test, before rain cut short Her final
phase on Thursday. She then completed Her rookie test on Monday with a top
speed of 171.429mph, following the first week of qualifying.
With turbo boost having been slightly reduced
to slow speeds, the fastest in practice was Johnny Rutherford at 189.833mph,
wit speeds in the high 180’s. With Al Unser and A. J. Foyt giving chase to Lone
Star JR’.
Day-3 of qualifying; Saturday May 16th saw
Guthrie not attempting a qualifying run, having been hunting for speed, only
able to muster 173mph-plus. Not fast enough to bump Her way into the field.
Reportedly Foyt was so incensed over His
counterparts attitude towards Janet, that He loaned Her his No. 1 backup
chassis to attempt qualification on Sunday.
Foyt had lapped at 190mph in the car on Friday.
And Sunday morning, Guthrie recorded a speed of 180.796mph, being Her fastest
lap of the month. Yet even with this improvement of some seven miles per hour
faster, Guthrie didn’t make a qualifying attempt and the drama was over…
Humpy Wheeler then cut a deal to have Janet
race in the World 600 NASCAR race at Charlotte, becoming the first woman to
race in a Super Speedway NASCAR event. Finishing 15th after two cylinders “Done
Blown Up!” Toward race’s end.
Guthrie would race at Mother Speedway between
1977-79, with a best finish of ninth in 1978. Bookending Her time at the
Brickyard by failing to qualify in 1980. Before disappearing from the landscape
from what’s become a common occurrence for female racers, i.e.; lack of
sponsorship.
13 years would pass before Lyn St. James
arrived at 16th & Georgetown, becoming the 1992 Indianapolis 500 Rookie Of
the Year. Yet it would be 24 years since Guthrie first attempted racing in the
Indy 500 until two females made the race, when Sarah fisher joined the party
And St. James made Her swansong appearance
Having first scribbled about this subject
nearly two decades ago, I’m not inclined to re-create the wheel, or relive
Danica Mania, Yawn! (2005) and will refer Y’all to my original No Fenders post.
Women in Racing
Whilst 2007 was a watershed moment for le
Femmes, the first time ever that three women raced in the Indianapolis 500.
With Sarah fisher and Danica Patrick being joined by Milka Duno.
Three years later, the bar was raised to four
Femme fatales competing at Mother Speedway, which I teased Yuhs wit the
following No Fenders yarn Wayback then…
Speedway
Sirens flock to Indianapolis in droves: The Centennial Years (2010 Edition)
Quattro females would compete in the
Indianapolis 500 again in 2011, the following year reverted to just three. And
then four again for 2013, with Katherine Legge having joined the fiesta in 2012
The party abruptly ended in 2014, with only
relative newcomer Pippa Mann in Her third Indy 500 carrying the torch as the
lone female between 2014-2019.
2020 would be the first time in over two
decades that no Femme Fatales raced in the Indianapolis 500, with Mann running
into that ominous funding issue.
Simona de Silvestro drove for Beth Paretta’s
female team Paretta Motorsports in a technical alliance with Team Penske in
2021. With year’s 2022 and 2025 again seeing no female competitors at the
Speedway.
Katherine Legge competed for Dale Coyne Racing
in 2023, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2024. Before returning with HMD
Motorsports with Foyt enterprises as the 33rd and final entry for this year’s
110th running of the famed Indianapolis 500.
Since 1977, a total of nine women have raced in
the Indy 500: Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, Sarah Fisher, Danica Patrick, Milka
Duno, Ana Beatriz, Simona de Silvestro, Pippa Mann and Katherine Legge.
And like I said in the beginning, I’m happy
that Legge’s back in the race this year. But at 45 years old, you’d have to
wonder how many more “Rodeo’s” will She contest at Mother Speedway?
More alarmingly, it doesn’t appear there’s
anybody on the horizon to take the spurs from Legge.
As I can only think of these four le Femmes
having recently competed in Indy NXT, the final rung on the ladder to IndyCar,
i.e.; Linsey Brewer, Jamie Chadwick, Haley Deegan and Sophia Florisch.
Chadwick was the most promising, being a
three-times winner of the women’s W Series. Along with winning the Road America
Indy NXT race in 2024, whilst holding off teammate and eventual Indy NXT
champion Louis Foster. The first female win since Pippa Mann in 2010.
Chadwick tested an Andretti Global IndyCar at
Barber Motorsports Park before IndyCar became a “Closed Shop” and currently is
Genesis Magma Racing’s FIA World Endurance championship’s Hypercar reserve
driver. And hopefully will get an opportunity to compete for Genesis in IMSA
GTP in the future…
Florisch arguably was the second most promising
of this quartet. But only made a single Indy NXT start at the 2024 St. Pete
season opener before Her budget dried-up and She was forced to leave the
series.
Both Deegan and Brewer had less than promising
results during their 2025 Indy NXT tenures. And sadly, I’m not aware of any
aspiring le Femmes on the Open wheel Racing horizon Stateside…